A journal article on K-band radar systems for breast cancer diagnostics has been accepted for publication in IEEE Journal of Electromagnetics, RF, and Microwaves in Medicine and Biology.
Abstract:
Conventional approaches for microwave breast tumor detection are limited by the imaging resolution due to the low operating frequency. The objective of this work is to provide a proof of concept for radar-based detection of breast tumors in K-band using the temperature-dependent permittivity of the tissue for contrast enhancement. The innovation of this work is given by (i) investigating higher microwave frequencies for breast cancer diagnostics and improved resolution; (ii) exploiting variations in tissue temperature as a non-invasive approach for contrast-induced radar imaging eliminating the need for contrast agents such as nanoparticles; (iii) using a well-defined setup with the breast compressed similar to mammography; (iv) eliminating the need for coupling liquid through the usage of ultra-wideband bow-tie antennas operating from 16.55 to 40 GHz for a reflection coefficient lower than -10 dB; (v) validating the experimental findings through numerical modelling.
The experimental setup in this work consists of a single-pixel transmission setup with the antennas placed in a 3D printed container. Two different tissue mimicking phantoms have been studied that both model the temperature-dependent permittivity of biological tissue. The first phantom represents homogeneous fatty tissue properties and the second phantom simulates fatty tissue with a tumor inclusion. A uniform phantom warming is realized through a water bath combined with a continuous monitoring of the phantoms temperature. We show that a homogeneous phantom without tumor can be distinguished from a heterogeneous phantom with tumor in the temperature range of 28°C to 38°C.
More information:
Moll, J.; Slanina, T.; Stindl, J.; Maetz, T.; Nguyen, D. & Krozer, V., Temperature-induced Contrast Enhancement for Radar-based Breast Tumor Detection at K-band using Tissue Mimicking Phantoms, IEEE Journal of Electromagnetics, RF, and Microwaves in Medicine and Biology, 2023 (accepted in April 2023)
